The day after

AlanT · March 7, 2006

Hi

How long did the gas pain go on for?? Im day 10 and still get it every night??

Al

StrawartS · March 8, 2006

My post-op experience was probably the worse week of my life. Here's why:

1. Gas pain does not mean that you need to burp or fart. It's gas that has been pumped into your bodily cavity and has no way of escaping. When my mom asked me what she could do for me in recovery, my first words were "Turn back time."

2. I do not sleep after anesthesia. I am restless. After I got home from surgery around noon, I paced my house, up and down the stairs, around the living room, for the entire rest of the day. Day 2, the nausea set in and I couldn't move for fear of throwing up. See #3.

3. Prescription pain meds made me miserable. I would feel fine for 4 hours while they worked, but as soon as they wore off, I would get debilitating nausea. I didn't realize the cause of my nausea, and just kept taking the pain meds. If you take pain meds, PLEASE eat something substantial. Out of fear, I ate probably a total of 200 calories in my first 5 post-op days. On day 5, I was dry-heaving and phenergan suppositories did nothing. The only way I stopped being so sick was eating solid, regular food. Yeah, I know you're not supposed to, but I never threw up, my band didn't slip, and I'm still here. I'm not giving advice, just telling you what I had to do to stay sane.

4. I didn't sleep for an entire week post-op. I would fall asleep for an hour, and then wake up with the most awful nausea I have ever experienced. I had to prop myself up or stand up perfectly still so that I wouldn't dry heave.

I hate to be Debbie Downer, but before I had surgery, I was told that I could go back to work in 2 days. My whole band experience feels like a lie, so I just want to share what happened to me. It probably won't happen to you, but information never hurts.

StrawartS · March 8, 2006

P.S. I never had any band-related pain, other than the gas pain. I am still amazed at the body's ability to protect itself when it senses that it is being compromised. For example, I sneeze probably about 10 times a day every day. Post-banding, I didn't sneeze for a week. My mom had warned me how painful her sneezes were, and I honestly believe that my body stopped itself from sneezing. Or maybe I didn't sneeze because I wasn't exposed to natural sunlight and plants.